Your top has probably lost its "gelcoat" - the finish coat given fiberglass
surfaces. I don't personally know how to do this, but you might talk about
it with a body shop, or marine outfit that deals with fiberglass hulls. I
imagine it'll take sanding the whole top down and refinishing the whole
thing. You may be better off trying to find a good used top. I have a pretty
nice light brown one from an '85, complete with luggage rack. Getting it to
you might be as much as the part - I think I'd want a $100 for the two
pieces. Sounds like the color would clash, though...

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of Scott White
Sent: Monday, July 12, 1999 11:51 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Westfalia Pop Top Question

I own a maroon (burgundy, dark red, whatever...) 1990 Westy.  The problem I
have is that the top looks like it is hery oxidized (i.e. a lot of whitish
stuff hanging on). I have tried everything I can think of to clean and then
'polish' the top to restore the color and a bit of the shine that they have
when new.  Anyone out there found a good product or technique to do this?

I have tried various auto and marine cleaning and restoration potions with
moderately OK, but short-lived, results.

Thanks for any ideas...

Scott White
Boise, Idaho
1990 Westfalia